Video

Protesters rally outside NRA headquarters

Hundreds of protesters gather outside the National Rifle Association Headquarters to demand stricter gun control laws, and a ban on assault rifles, following the recent Orlando massacre. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

TRANSCRIPT +

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
STORY: Hundreds of protesters lined the street outside the National Rifle Association Headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia on Tuesday (June 14) to call for stricter gun control laws following the Orlando massacre.
Forty-nine people were killed at a gay nightclub in Florida when police say Omar Mateen opened fire on the crowd using a Sig Sauer MCX carbine.
"We need the assault weapon ban to be back in place. We need to keep these guns off the streets and not available. We're not talking about hunting rifles, we're not talking about your basic guns you need for protection, that's all fine and good. We all support that. What we don't support is literally weapons of mass destruction --- 49 people killed in a matter of minutes," said protester Troy Petenbrink.
The rally is part of an ongoing push by gun control advocates who have protested every month outside the NRA headquarters since the 2012 shooting at an elementary school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut that killed 20 children and 6 adults.
Members of the LGBT community also joined Tuesday's protest to stand in solidarity following the attack on the Pulse nightclub in Florida, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history and the worst attack on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
"It could've been me in that bar, it could've been my friends, it could've been a loved one. The same way it could've been my kids, and my nephews and nieces at Newtown. It's all of us and we all need to come together to be sure it doesn't happen again," said Mike Bento, who is gay.
No one from the NRA came out to address the crowd during the protest which lasted about an hour and a half.
Jack Mathison,92, the oldest participant at the rally, and a regular at monthly protests, says that doesn't surprise him.
"They come out usually and fold their arms and glare at us. You may know that last month, they turned on their sprinklers and got us wet, so we had to get over on the other side of the street," said Mathison.
The Orlando massacre has prompted top U.S. officials including President Barack Obama to call for meaningful gun control measures.

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